Attract Owners in 15 Steps

Follow this 15-step plan to build your clientele of small business owners. You will lure them with a seminar called What Is Your Business Worth, and Why You Need to Know. We recommend this approach to advisors who feel comfortable speaking before groups. (Even financial advisors who know nothing about business valuations can present this seminar with confidence, using the free resources SPARDATA provides.)

This prospecting approach is cheap and easy. Rather than hosting a seminar yourself (and spending hundreds or thousands of dollars promoting it), instead you will be invited to speak to business groups in your community. The group, not you, will pay all the costs associated with publicizing your presentation. You may expect from 25% to 33% of your audience to ask you afterward to contact them, so the event is a launching pad to build your clientele and increase your sales.

Seminar Description. Since the business is often its owner's most valuable asset, valuation is always a topic of interest, and What Is Your Business Worth, and Why You Need to Know capitalizes on that interest. The seminar is 30-40 minutes long and has two parts. In Part One, the presenter (you) uses a PowerPoint file (including slides and speaker notes) provided by SPARDATA to:

• welcome attendees and congratulate them on owning a business, since business ownership is the surest path to wealth in America;
• observe that most owners have a number in their heads as to what their companies are worth, but those "guesstimates" are almost always wrong (usually by 50% or more). The presenter uses statistical data to prove this point;
• discuss two case studies illustrating bad things that happen to owners who fail to know what their businesses are worth; and
• suggest owners consider getting their companies valued ASAP because otherwise their financial plan rests on a house of cards.

You begin Part Two of your presentation by noting that you work with a great appraisal firm and that you can help owners get valuations when appropriate. Then you spend 10-20 minutes discussing the other services you offer, and how they help business owners. In Part Two, presenters generally work from their own notes and slides.

The Evaluation Form is the key to harvesting large numbers of prospect leads. Before people arrive place an Evaluation Form on everyone's chair; begin your remarks by encouraging the audience to complete and turn in the Form when they leave. (We suggest you station a colleague at the exit to collect Evaluation Forms as people leave the room.) Usually 25% to 33% of the Evaluation Forms ask the presenter to contact them afterwards; they are qualified leads advisors use to grow their practices.

You could organize a seminar yourself by renting a room, purchasing a mailing list, printing up invitations, paying for postage to mail them, following up with phone calls to increase the response rate, etc. But a much cheaper and more effective alternative is to partner with business organizations in your community (such as Chambers of Commerce, homebuilders associations and similar groups) that are looking for speakers. Let the organization do the heavy lifting; all you will need to do is show up, give your presentation and afterwards convert your prospect leads into clients. Here is the step-by-step checklist:

1. Learn about the seminar by clicking on "Watch The Movie" posted at the Prospecting Seminar page on SPARDATA's website.
2. Make a list of the business groups in your community or area to which you want to be invited to speak; the longer the list, the better. For ideas do a Google or Yahoo search on 'business association', 'trade association' or similar term and your city or state.
3. Call each organization and identify the name and contact information for the person responsible for scheduling speakers.
4. Download the Proposal Letter and Invitation from SPARDATA's Prospecting Seminar page. The Proposal Letter invites organizations to have you give a presentation entitled What Is Your Business Worth, And Why You Need To Know. The Invitation is what the organization sends out to its members inviting them to attend your presentation.
5. Customize the Proposal Letter and Invitation and send it to the contacts you identified. The response is likely to be favorable because the topic is a business owner hot button. It is new, fresh and different than the usual "Are Municipal Bonds Right For You" seminars. (Keep in mind organizations often set their speaker calendars months in advance!)
6. After five business days call the contact to follow up.
7. When an organization invites you to speak, prepare by downloading and customizing the Evaluation Form posted at SPARDATA's Prospecting Seminar page. Add the seminar date, time and location; and your name. Then be sure to make enough copies to place on every attendee's seat before your presentation starts.
8. Go to the Supply Room at SPARDATA's website and order sufficient copies of the What Is Your Business Worth? brochure to give to the attendees.
9. Download the PowerPoint file posted at SPARDATA's Prospecting Seminar page. Modify the "slide master" to include your firm's logo and phone number.
10. On your toolbar click View/Notes Page to print out the speaker notes for each slide. Practice your presentation until you feel at ease with it. In this regard many advisors report they found it helpful "watching the movies" of the Five Lessons posted in the Info For Owners section of the website.
11. Put together handouts for seminar attendees. Use the SPARDATA brochure as the main document. Insert your business card in the inside back cover. In the pocket include the Evaluation Form and your PowerPoint presentation, printed out in the "3 slides to the page" format.
12. On the day of the seminar, arrive early and place a handout on every chair.
13. Station a colleague at the door, with instructions to let nobody leave the room without turning in their completed Evaluation Forms.
14. Give the presentation and afterwards collect the Evaluation Forms. Seasoned presenters find it is common for 25% to 33% of the attendees to ask the presenter to contact them afterwards.
15. Contact the prospects and conduct whatever activities you think appropriate to convert them into clients. To the extent a business valuation is an interest, take advantage of SPARDATA's free teleconference service to let a SPARDATA Valuation Consultant close the sale for you.